


winter snow, summer days

by ewagan



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-27 21:03:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10049186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewagan/pseuds/ewagan
Summary: He flushes, but he smiles at her as he sits in the chair opposite her. “Hi,” he says shyly. She laughs at him but reaches over to curl a hand over his.“Hey.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toondoon1010](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toondoon1010/gifts).



> Written for HQ Rarepair Exchange, for Aishiwarya (toondoon101.tumblr.com).
> 
> I hope you enjoy this! c:

He first meets her at the side of a court, where she is brash and loud and supportive. She is also suspicious, but Akiteru would admit he did look a bit shady, what with the hoodie and the sunglasses (who even wore sunglasses indoors?). But she listens when he talks to her about volleyball, pointing out plays and movements, cheering loudly alongside him whenever Karasuno scores. She doesn’t laugh when he bursts into tears, and he leaves the match feeling like perhaps, he’s found another friend.

He doesn’t expect to see her at the ice cream parlour on New Year’s Eve, not when most of the town has gone to the local shrines. She spots him just after he orders and waves enthusiastically at him, beckoning him to come and join her.

“You’re Tsukishima, right?” she asks. Her own paper cup is empty, save for the wooden stick that suggested it used to hold an ice cream. He nods as he sets his down, and wonders if she’s as crazy as he is to want to eat ice cream when there are announcements of impending snow in the coming week, when it is so cold that his nose turns red the moment he walks out the door.

“You’re Tanaka Saeko.” He says it as a statement of fact, but the way she smiles at him makes it feel like more than that.

“Why aren’t you with everyone else at the shrine?” she asks as he starts on his ice cream (vanilla, because vanilla is a perfectly nice flavour, it’s not boring Kei, hush). He points at his ice cream and smiles.

“The ice cream was calling my name.” he says. She nods like she understands.

“I get what you mean. Like, the chocolate caramel nut bar was calling to me, I couldn’t stop thinking about it while I was at work today.” Saeko gestures as she speaks, as if her stories and feelings were too much for words alone to convey.

So he listens as she tells him stories about work, about her classes and her attempts to start a Wadaiko drumming team. She’s as loud as he remembers, funny and sharp in her remarks, takes his nods and chuckles as encouragements to continue.

“Anyways, Ryuu isn’t a hoodlum! He’s perfectly respectable, and very cool to boot.” she huffs. “ _ I’m _ perfectly respectable. Just because I dress like this doesn’t mean I’m a hoodlum.” Akiteru chuckles, scraping his spoon around his mostly empty paper cup.

“I’m sure you are.” he agrees amiably. “And your brother is pretty cool.”

“Hell yeah! He’s gonna be the ace next year.” She’s got a fierce smile on her face, like it’s a given at this point. Akiteru smiles, but he recognises the pride she has in her younger sibling, the same way he is immensely proud of Kei.

“I’m sure he’ll be. He’s a pretty good player.” Akiteru agrees. She beams at him, and Akiteru feels something in his glow. He focuses his attention on his mostly empty paper cup, trying to hide a pleased smile.

“Oh, crap. I gottta run.” Saeko’s exclamation makes Akiteru look up. Saeko’s hands are a flurry as she clears her trash and flashes him another smile. “I’m supposed to meet some friends, but it was great talking to you!” And then she’s gone, leaving Akiteru to his paper cup and thoughts.

 

The next time he sees her again is on his way home from one of his neighbourhood volleyball practices. She seems to have just gotten off work, though it does nothing to diminish her rather loud personality. She greets him enthusiastically, and they fall into step quite easily, chatting as he tells her about the volleyball practices.

Later, he buys her an ice cream bar and she grins appreciatively at him. It’s not much, but they talk as they eat their respective ice creams. He asks about her Wadaiko drumming team and she’s delighted he remembers, and tells him about her recruitment attempts. It’s a little slow, but she’s made some headway in gathering people for it.

They fall into a comfortable sort of silence as they finish their respective ice creams, before it melts into a sticky mess.

“You got some ice on your face.” Akiteru points out, breaking the silence.

“Huh? Where?” Saeko starts dabbing at her face with tissue, but she still manages to miss it.

“Here, let me just,” he mumbles, fumbling around for a tissue. “Do you mind if I do it?” he asks, a little belatedly. She shakes her head and he reaches out, wipes the smear of ice cream off her cheek.

“Thanks.” Her smile is soft, and Akiteru can feel heat in his cheeks. He hopes she doesn’t notice, and launches into a story about one of his colleagues, a Saito-san who seemed to have the worst run of luck possible.

She laughs as he recounts an incident when the poor man managed to drop his pastry while trying to get a plate from the cupboard and found himself being smacked by the cupboard door as well.

“He just sounds terribly clumsy.” she observes, still smiling.

“It’s rather unfortunate, really.” Akiteru agrees. “I wonder if it’s just him being clumsy or just really bad luck.”

“Hey, gimme your LINE ID.” she says suddenly, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

“What?” He’s not sure he’s heard her right, but she makes an impatient gesture at him.

“C’mon. We’re friends right? LINE ID, quick.” She snaps her fingers impatiently at him and he fumbles for his phone, opening the app and holding it out for her to scan the QR code. “There we go.” she mumbles, as she taps out a quick message. His phone lights up with the notification and he smiles at the sticker she sent, an angry hamster raging through a city.

“Nice sticker. I can see the resemblance.” he comments wryly, and she sticks her tongue out at him.

“That set is pretty great, thank you very much.” she says, with a haughty toss of her head. He laughs as he sends back a sticker of a cowering cockatiel. Her snort of laughter is worth it, and Akiteru feels something comfortably warm settle in his chest.

“I should be heading back, I’ve got to wake up early for work tomorrow.” he says regretfully, pocketing his phone. “It was nice talking to you.” he offers. She grins at him.

“Well, don’t be a stranger now, yeah?” she says. He waves as she gives him a two-fingered salute.

His phone beeps a new notification at him just as he’s toeing off his shoes at the door.

_ (22.36) thanks for the ice cream btw _

_ (22.36) good night! _

“What are you smiling at.” Kei’s voice comes from behind him, cool and disinterested.

“Nothing.” Akiteru says quickly, shoving his phone into his pocket.

Kei doesn’t seem convinced, but he shrugs. “There’s pudding in the fridge if you want some. I’m going to bed.”

“Good night then.” Kei makes a noise of acknowledgement and then he’s gone. Akiteru fishes out his phone and taps out a quick reply.

_ (22.40) no big. gnight! _

 

It’s surprising how quickly chatting with Saeko becomes a habit. She sends him pictures of her shenanigans in university, and he can’t help but smile at them. In return, he tells her stories about his workplace, regales her with stories of yet another one of Saito-san’s incidents.

They meet up occasionally on weekends, when their schedules allow it. They talk and Akiteru confesses a love for cute things and a childhood obsession with dinosaurs, while Saeko laughs at him for how many time he’s seen Jurassic Park.

“Some of those movies were really bad!” she points out, a smile still on her lips.

“Yeah, but  _ dinosaurs_.” Akiteru stresses. She shakes her head at him, clearly amused by how his love for dinosaurs apparently trumped bad CGI and terrible movie plots.

“How many times did you go see Jurassic World when it came out?” she asks, stirring her drink with the straw.

Akiteru hesitates before he answers. “Five.” he admits sheepishly, looking at his coffee. “Kei came with me for three of them.” he adds as Saeko laughs.

“You two are such dorks.” Her amusement at his expense has him smiling, albeit rather reluctantly.

“Well, it’s not like the recent Fast and Furious movies were much better.” he murmurs, but Saeko’s eyes flash with something like challenge.

“You take that back!”

“Never.”

“Ooh pretty boy, that’s a declaration of war.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“Just you wait.” Saeko’s eyes are full of challenge, promising retribution of some sort. “Just you wait.”

 

Saeko is fun, she’s loud, she’s amusing, and she’s also terrifyingly smart when she wants to be. Akiteru learns small things about her as they talk more, from a love for the more traditional aspects of culture to a surprising ability to cook and cook really well. He finds himself looking forward to spending time with her, be it during accidental run-ins around town or meeting up when they both have time.

“Hey, is this a date?” he asks during one of their meet-ups, his brow creased into a slight frown.

“You really are dense, aren’t you?” Saeko asks with something like exasperation in her voice.

“Is that a yes?” he ventures.

His reply come in the form of a brief press of lips against his and Saeko shaking her head at him. 

“Oh.” Heat rushes to his cheeks as Saeko laughs at him, and he can’t help but laugh too as he reaches out to take her hand in his.

 

* * *

 

It’s snowing when he pushes into the ice cream parlour, bundled up to protect him from the cold and the prediction for a sharper temperature drop later tonight. The ice cream parlor is rather empty because it’s New Year’s Eve, but Saeko’s already at what he’s come to think of as their regular table, waving when she spots him. He raises a hand in acknowledgment as he goes to get their ice creams, a vanilla soft serve for him and a chocolate nut bar for her. She grins up at him when he places it in front of her and leans in to kiss his cheek.

He flushes, but he smiles at her as he sits in the chair opposite her. “Hi,” he says shyly. She laughs at him but reaches over to curl a hand over his.

“Hey.”

**Author's Note:**

> Saeko's hamster [LINE stickers](https://store.line.me/stickershop/product/1041551/en) do exist, by the by. [Akiteru's](https://store.line.me/stickershop/product/1115900/en), for the curious.
> 
> All kudos and comments are very much appreciated. c: <3
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ewagan). I promise I don't bite.


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